(The long-overdue apology will be found at the bottom of this chapter…

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the game series Kingdom Hearts, Marvel, Disney, You're Welcome from Moana, and The Swan Princess)

All Sora wanted to do was run. To get away from this place. To feel the freedom he once had. To remember how things had been before it all came to an end. Before -

"Heads up!"

Weight crashed into his chest, knocking him flat on his back and the air out of his lungs. Wheezing, all Sora could do was stare at the sky until a figure leaned over him.

"Shit man," Riku held a hand to him. "You alright?"

Sora grunted. "Yeah, I'm good." He took his friend's hand and hauled to his feet, one arm still around the sack of flour that had taken him out. "Thanks, bro."

They were down by the local pier, helping deliver goods from the various trading ships as a summer job. Really about the only summer job Sora was willing to do that would accept someone who had barely completed high school after a long-term absence he could not quite explain. Somehow, telling his whole town how it was thanks to him and his friends they were all still healthy and alive instead of writhing in the darkness of the Heartless and Nobodies did not sound so believable. Finally, he had to lie to his mom that he, Riku, and Kairi had all simply drifted away on their little raft and, miraculously, survived.

"For two years?" She had asked incredulously.

All Sora could do was shrug. "We were...lucky?"

Lucky wasn't even half of it. Hours and hours of tutoring in between school days and holidays, even summer, just so they could all make it past that final year. Riku and Kairi, of course, passed with flying colors, even getting high honors - cough, Riku - and a letter of acceptance to a prestigious off-island university for Kairi. But Sora? Well…

He winced at the memories of pure agony trying to get through each exam by just the skin of his teeth. No letters of acceptance for him to university, not even to college. Just the simple acknowledgement that he had passed.

"Hey, Dream-Boy!" A deck worker hefted a cart of sacks down the gangplank of a nearby ship. "Get to work, these flour sacks ain't gettin' to the town themselves! You too, Pretty Boy!"

Sora raised an eyebrow at Riku and mouthed "Pretty Boy?" Riku just shook his head and walked to the cart. Each of them grabbing a handle, they hoisted the wagon up and began to push it towards the trucks.

"I can't believe Kairi's finally back from University today!" Sora sighed, his grin going to both ears as they pushed their way down the narrow walk to the loading bay. "It feels like it's been forever!"

"Funny, I didn't even notice." Riku shot him a side glance. "Even if you keep reminding me every single day."

"I do not."

"Yeah, you do."

"No I - okay, maybe a couple times a day."

"A couple?"

Seeing his friend's look, Sora rolled his eyes. "Okay, fine, I've been talking about it a lot. I just can't wait for her to be back! I mean, after all that's happened, we finally will have the chance to have a normal summer break! When was the last time that happened? Don't answer that," he pointed at Riku. "It was rhetorical."

It was all thanks to Kairi that he managed to graduate on time. One of many she got to chalk up on her list of the times she had saved his life.

It's thanks to her I'm still human.

"What time is she back?" Riku interrupted his thoughts.

"A little after 6pm."

"You taking her to the beach party tomorrow night?"

Sora nodded absently. "Yup,"

"Are you going to ask her?"

The cart hit a pothole, nearly catching Sora in the stomach. "What? To a beach party everyone is going to? She knows about it, we already agreed to go." He quickly scooped up a bag and turned to the truck they were to load, trying to avoid Riku's gaze.

"You know that's not what I meant." Two bags in his arms, Riku fixed Sora with a pointed look.

"Nooo idea what you're talking about…"

"Then why are you staring at the clouds?"

"It looks like it might rain tonight, doesn't it look like rain?" Sora started tossing the heavy bags onto the truck bed. "I think it might rain." Grab flour bag, toss it onto the truck, grab flour bag, toss onto truck, he did not want Riku to see his face and the blood that went straight to his cheeks. He could feel his eyes on his back as he tried to keep his focus on their task. Once the cart was empty, Sora grabbed both handles and they pushed it back to the pier.

Back and forth they went, between the cargo ships and the trucks, loading and unloading whatever they were given. The sun slid across the sky, stretching the shadows cast by the surrounding buildings until they seemed to reach for Sora and Riku as they delivered the last load. When they returned to the pier, Sora stared at the blood-red sky and the shrinking sliver of golden sun. A beam of light reflected off the water and hit his eyes.

A swan cut through the sky with powerful wingbeats that carried it high up directly into the sun's light until the white body vanished, nothing but a faint silhouette against the burning gold. His voice caught in his throat as he called a name, but it was lost to his ears in a high-pitched howl. Against his will, he turned to see a figure standing atop a cliff's edge, a heavy bow pointed directly to where the swan had vanished. The arrow gleamed in the sunlight as it flew to the swan's heart.

"Sora?"

Jerking back, Sora held his head and blinked at the sudden vision. Riku had grabbed his shoulder to steady him.

"Hey man, you okay?"

Sora blinked again. Rubbing his eyes, he shook his head. "I...don't know. Zoned out for a bit, I guess." He shrugged out of Riku's hold and rubbed his right shoulder which had started to itch. "I'm good."

"Maybe you should call it a day? I'll take the cart back to the harbormaster."

The waves glimmered in the fading light as innocently as waves could, not a single one reflecting a vision for Sora to see. He nodded to Riku. "Yeah, okay, thanks bro." He turned to leave and paused. "Are you going to see Kairi too?"

At that, Riku smiled and shook his head. "Nah, you two deserve some time together. I'll see you guys tomorrow at the beach party. Have fun tonight!"

"We're just hanging out, but thanks!" Sora held his hand in a wave and jogged from the docks into town, chancing a look at the huge clock in the main square. "A little after 5, I got time." He hurried through the streets as the sky turned a soft indigo and the air cooled. Turning up the street to his house, Sora slid to a stop and reached into his pocket for his key. Not the powerful Keyblade he once wielded to fight the Heartless, just a normal metal key. Sighing, Sora inserted in in the lock.

Heat stung him square in the back, throwing Sora flat against the door to his house. "What the?" Gasping, Sora whirled around, his back stinging from whatever had struck him. Shadows rippled, blinding him in darkness that pinned him where he stood.

"Three turns of the moon," The wind hissed in his ears.

Sora yelped and jumped back, just as the door opened behind him. With a startled "shit!" Sora tumbled into the house, crashed into something and landed, once again, flat on his back with his mother staring down at him.

"Sora?"

"Mom?"

"Get off me!" A familiar voice grunted against his neck.

All the blood drained from Sora's face and he sprang to his feet, turning to see Kairi sitting up, rubbing her head.

Oops.

"Uh…hi...Kairi…" Sora held out a hand for her. "Sorry bout that, I thought," he glanced at the front door and the yard beyond, but nothing was there. Just shadows and twilight.

"Thought what?" Kairi asked as he helped her to her feet. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, but held back the questions . They had an audience, best to wait until they were at a safe distance behind closed doors.

Sora caught her gaze and quickly shrugged. "Nothing, I tripped. You're here early."

"And you're still holding my hand."

"Right," he dropped Kairi's hand and smiled sheepishly. "My bad. When did you get home?"

"Half an hour ago," Sora's mom said with a smile."Kairi wanted to surprise you when you came back from work."

"Evidently, it worked." Kairi's tone was mocking, but Sora saw the look she gave him. He was not getting away with this easily. He laughed.

"Yeah, it worked alright! Joke's on you for being my cushion." He winked and Kairi's cheeks turned pink.

"You and all your sweaty glory."

"I was going to shower first!"

Ignoring Kairi's smirk, Sora jogged up the stairs to his room, kicking the door shut as he hurried to peel off his clothes. One hot shower and teeth-brushing later, he was searching through his drawers for a fresh shirt and shorts. Kairi's laughter mingled with his mom's through the door, making Sora wonder what they were talking about. University, no doubt. How things had been on the island since she had left. Their adventures? Sora shook his head, yanking a pair of shorts out from the dresser. Kairi was too smart to go around telling people about the Heartless, much less advertise their absence. It was her idea to say they had been adrift all that time, and Sora had been more than happy to play along with the concept. Still, part of him wished they could be honest about it, instead of playing the lie.

But, what would they say? He thought, pulling a shirt over his head. And how the hell would we even prove it? Pushing his arms through the sleeves, Sora rolled his shoulders, and frowned. A dull pain throbbed in his right shoulder, like a muscle had been pulled. Did I lift a bag wrong? Sora frowned, stretching his arms. It wasn't sharp or agonizing, just annoying. Wondering it he somehow scratched himself, Sora rolled up the short sleeve and turned to face the mirror. Just below the socket, faded from the years, was a round star-shaped scar. The memory tugged him back to the sensation of falling through darkness, landing on his side in a rough net, the flashing pain of a spear stabbing through muscle and skin, and fur.

Sora jerked back from the mirror, pulling the sleeve down over the scar. That happened a long time ago when he had been careless. A bone-head move that almost cost his humanity and the life of another. Two others, he reminded himself, then shook his head. That was a memory he did not want to go back to, not now that Kairi was back home, with him. The darkness was gone from that world, the villain had been beaten, the good guys had won.

Rolling his shoulder again, Sora grabbed his jacket from the wall and chanced a look at the mirror. "Rothbart is dead," he told his reflection. "That's all that matters." And closed the door.

Many worlds away, a castle stood silent, its inhabitants deep in the comfort of sleep. All, but one. In the western wing, in the quarters reserved for the royal, a dreamer tossed and turned in the telltale signs of a nightmare. Face contorted in confusion and fear, long hair plaster to a face beaded with sweat, the Princess Odette fled from the darkness and the voices that whispered to her.

Give us the Arts. Give us your life.

Shapes surrounded her everywhere she turned, reaching out with twisted limbs of wings and hands.

You cannot be free of us. You cannot escape the tragedy, Swan Queen.

Behind her, heavy wingbeats grew closer, sending hot breath down her neck. A deep snarl rose, as did the huge beast that vaulted over her head, landing directly in her path. Odette froze.

The beast was hidden in the darkness, its massive shape rising over her, fierce eyes burning with red fire. Far off in the distance came a shattering howl, silencing the voices. Behind the beast, a red moon filled the sky.

Odette shot up with a gasp, her heart pounding against her rib cage, the wolf's howl ringing in her ears. Slowly, she turned her head to the window. A thin, crescent moon hung in the sky, hiding behind a film of clouds. Swallowing hard, Odette pulled her legs to her chest as if to shield herself from the memory of the dream.

"Sora…"

(Hello all! Yeah, I'm late getting back to you all with an update. And by late, I mean years late. I'm sorry. There are loads of excuses I could try to use, but all I can honestly say is: life. Plans that you thought could be put in motion are delayed, or even canceled, and you have to improvise. But through it all, I never forgot about this story, or you guys. And honestly, it is thanks to you readers for letting me know you hadn't forgotten this either. I cannot make any promises, but I have the outline for this story all set, and hope to have a writing schedule set aside so I don't leave you hanging as bad as before.

Anywhozle, thank you for keeping me going and getting me off my arse to get back to writing this puppy! And boy, am I excited for this one! As always, please tell me what you think, and maybe if there is anything you guys would like to see in this story? Where do you think this will go? What do you see happening? Yes, Riku and Kairi will be along for the ride, and Donald and Goofy will be coming along shortly. The chapters will be longer too. By the by, this is taking place after the third Swan Princess film, I have no plans to use anything from the ones after.

Okay, that's enough from me. See you in the next chapter!)